Let’s call him Sam, he’s behind in rent. Sam’s pastor at his church offers to pay his
rent. A check is sent to cover Sam’s rent, but includes a stipulation requiring the LL to fill out a W-2 essentially becoming an employee of the church so they can pay this rent.
Fairly odd request?
Yes, that is an extremely odd request. A W-2 really makes little sense because the property might not even be owned by an individual, and only individuals gets W-2s. It’s not income that’s subject to withholding, and isn’t earned income either, both of which are implied by being on a W-2. The normal way to report a rent payment to the IRS is through a 1099-MISC, Box 1, if they really want to report the payment to the IRS.
That’s not to say the request isn’t in some way invalid - just extremely odd. The landlord may not care about payroll taxes being withheld and such so long as he gets the money he’s owed, but I don’t see why the church would care so much about making him an employee just to make the payment. Do they not make other similar gifts on behalf of people? A regular line item on churches I’ve done work for is “benevolence”, which is what I assume this is.
Ok, rereading the question a little more carefully, he may have been given a W-9, which would be required if the church was going to give him a 1099-MISC at the end of the year. That would be perfectly normal and what every business entity (for profit or not) should do when paying someone rent. We don’t do many 1099-MISCs for rent because most people figure it’s not worth the hassle, but some larger clients do care enough. If you plan on giving someone a 1099 of some sort, you need their TIN/SSN, as well as address and correct entity name, and that’s what the W-9 is for. It does not make them an employee, just a vendor of some type.
Thank you! Yes that clears it up, a W-9. Not the agreed upon arrangement. Cannot share any ss#. Felt manipulative and potential exposure to identity theft. Show me the money!
I leased my house to a pastor for several years. He received a housing allowance from the church. The church is providing income to the pastor, and he is paying me. Those are different things. The church needs to deal with any paperwork associated with the benefit. The landlord does not.
Yes, this is an odd request.
Exactly it’s the paperwork request, the tax responsibility and sharing of personal information to basically an unknown entity. It’s not my house of worship and I don’t know your pastor.
Pastor could make the tenant his vendor / employee and pay him so he can pay his rent?
I have had tenants who had their rent temporarily paid by charitable groups before, and I never received a W-9, 1099-Misc or anything like that. The charity did call me to explain what was happening, make sure it was acceptable, and confirm my address to send a check. The charity did pay me directly.
I would have been happy to provide the charity (or any tenant) with a receipt upon receiving payment, but they never asked.